Where Voting and Elections Are On The Ballot This Year

By

Oscar Pocasangre

This fall, with the presidential election dominating news cycles, it might be easy to miss the 24 ballot initiatives in 19 states and Washington, D.C. that may reshape how Americans vote and how elections are administered.

The following map shows that in most of these places voters will be asked to decide on changes to how primaries are run, whether to adopt ranked-choice voting (or prohibit it entirely in one case), and whether to make it easier or harder to vote. In the rest of the states, voters will decide on issues including the allocation of Electoral College votes, campaign finance limits, redistricting commissions, and school board election procedures. In North Dakota, voters approved in June a ballot initiative that intends to set age limits for congressional candidates.

The Details

Primaries

Two states have ballot initiatives that may change how primaries are run. In South Dakota, voters will vote on a ballot initiative that calls for a top-two primary election system, similar to the way California organizes its primaries and better understood as a two-round general election since the two candidates who obtain the most votes pass on to the second round regardless of partisan affiliation. In Arizona, one ballot initiative asks voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution to include a provision that requires partisan primaries. A second ballot initiative, under review as of August 2024, asks voters to decide whether to eliminate partisan primaries.

Primaries and Ranked-Choice Voting

Several ballot initiatives combine changes to how primaries are organized and to how winners are chosen. In Idaho, voters will decide on whether or not to replace partisan primaries with an open top-four primary system and to use ranked-choice voting (RCV) for general elections. Nevada will ask voters if they want a top-five primary system and RCV for general elections. Washington, D.C. will put on the ballot a question on whether to have semi-open primaries and RCV for its elections. In Colorado, a ballot initiative that would create a top-four primary system along with RCV is under review as of August 2024.

Ranked-Choice Voting

While Oregon has a ballot initiative that would establish RCV for federal and state elections if successful, Alaska and Missouri have initiatives to repeal or prohibit RCV, respectively. The Missouri initiative also calls for establishing that only the candidate with the most votes in a party primary can be the candidate for that party in the general election, essentially ruling out any top-X primary system.

Suffrage

Eight states have ballot initiatives that would specify that only U.S. citizens can vote in elections. Noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in elections and requiring proof of citizenship may impose a barrier for voting for millions of Americans who don't have easy access to verifying documents. In Nevada, a ballot initiative asks voters to decide if voters should be required to show a photo ID when voting in person or provide the last four digits of their social security number or driver's license when voting by mail. A ballot initiative in Connecticut would establish no-excuse absentee voting by law if successful.

Other Voting and Election Initiatives

The remaining ballot initiatives cover diverse topics. In Maine, voters will decide whether to uphold a recent law that would allocate the state's Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote, joining the national popular vote interstate compact which would kick into action if states with at least 270 Electoral College votes join the compact. Voters in Maine will also vote on whether to limit campaign contributions to political action committees. Ohio will ask its voters if it should establish an independent commission to draw its maps for state legislative and congressional districts. Florida has an initiative that if successful would make school board elections partisan beginning in 2026. Back in June, North Dakota voters approved a ballot initiative that calls for age limits for congressional candidates, despite a Supreme Court ruling against age limits.

What Else To Read

• What We Know About Ranked-Choice Voting (Lee Drutman and Maresa Strano, 2021)
• What We Know about Congressional Primaries and Congressional Primary Reform (Lee Drutman, 2021)

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